LL1: 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 > 3:16.2

The Lightning Lap, 2009

The 263-hp, 2.3-liter four makes this the hot-rod front-driver of LL1, although, as with most of its brethren, brake fade under hard driving was its most worrisome aspect. But the Mazdaspeed 3 didn’t suffer from this as badly as did the WRX.

The new Speed 3 is almost mechanically identical, save minor tweaks, to the last-gen car we tested at VIR in 2007. The change that has affected its track performance in a big way is the new car’s electrohydraulic power-steering unit. The old Speed 3 had a traditional, hydraulic power-steering unit because, Mazda insiders say, an electrohydraulic unit (used in the standard Mazda 3) could not keep up with the sawing of the steering wheel that happens at a track. For our two cents, Mazda should have stuck with the hydraulic setup in the Speed 3: During our first session, the steering got heavy at Turn Four, and the assist completely gave out on the third turn of the uphill esses. It then returned to normal by the Oak Tree turn. The electro unit also gave back less feel, leaving us guessing about traction levels.

At first, we couldn’t understand why the Speed 3 could only manage a lap time of 3:16.2, 0.2 second slower than the little Mazda’s performance of ’07. Then we looked at the specs. This Speed 3 was nearly 200 pounds heavier than the previous car, moving the power-to-weight ratio from 11.7 pounds per horsepower to 12.4. That’s a change that would indicate at least a 0.2-second backslide.